James Michael May Sells 2,383 Shares of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) Stock

NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) CAO James Michael May sold 2,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.09, for a total value of $162,258.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,867,504.43. This represents a 7.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

NextEra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NEE stock traded up $1.06 on Thursday, hitting $70.12. 9,339,262 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,303,520. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.38. NextEra Energy, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.95 and a 12 month high of $86.10. The stock has a market cap of $144.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $70.62 and a 200 day moving average of $76.64.

NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. NextEra Energy had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 28.06%. On average, equities research analysts predict that NextEra Energy, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

NextEra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.5665 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from NextEra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. NextEra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NEE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on NextEra Energy from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on NextEra Energy from $84.00 to $79.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Guggenheim increased their target price on NextEra Energy from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on NextEra Energy from $81.00 to $77.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextEra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.85.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextEra Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NEE. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 299,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,293,000 after purchasing an additional 5,409 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in NextEra Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in NextEra Energy in the third quarter valued at about $399,000. Pictet North America Advisors SA raised its position in NextEra Energy by 8.9% in the third quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 11,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NextEra Energy by 1.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 228,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,290,000 after buying an additional 4,220 shares during the period. 78.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

NextEra Energy Company Profile

NextEra Energy, Inc, through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electric power to retail and wholesale customers in North America. The company generates electricity through wind, solar, nuclear,natural gas, and other clean energy. It also develops, constructs, and operates long-term contracted assets that consists of clean energy solutions, such as renewable generation facilities, battery storage projects, and electric transmission facilities; sells energy commodities; and owns, develops, constructs, manages and operates electric generation facilities in wholesale energy markets.